A Quilter's Gratitude

I used to keep a gratitude journal but that fell by the wayside a few years ago during a time when life just got too busy. I must have felt that I had been blessed enough and didn't need to write down my blessings anymore.

Nothing to be grateful for??

Thanksgiving week is always the week it comes up again and lately I have been reflecting on just how much I have to be grateful for. Loving family, good friends and health are at the top of the list and even though there have been so many stresses this year, there's still much to be thankful for, even when it sometimes seems like there's not. I'm grateful that my illness wasn't more serious than it was and that I was able to recover nicely.

Being grateful for material provisions may seem . . . materialistic . . . but I'm thankful nonetheless to have a house with a bed to sleep in, food on the table, surrounded by nice things and being able to help provide for our family in these uncertain economic times. 

I may not write in a gratitude journal, but I say a silent "Thank you" often during the day. Sometimes it's for the little things, like:  I finished another quilt without having to stop and thread the bobbin, which was almost empty  . . . The dog went out to pee a few minutes before the rain came and so we didn't get wet  . . . Even though traffic was heavy this morning and I was running late for my doctor's appointment, I found a great parking spot right near the door and I got in before it rained again  . . . Or, the grocery store was not one bit crowded last night while I shopped for Thanksgiving dinner food, I finished in 40 minutes flat, and they weren't out of cranberries or cornbread stuffing as in years past! It's the little things . . . .

I know being grateful can seem silly to some people, so "Oprah" if you know what I mean. I don't care. I'm grateful my daughter bought me this lovely journal awhile ago to help me remember to keep track. I'm going to use it.

So what else does this quilter have to be grateful for?

I couldn't quilt for a few weeks because it hurt to sit for too long - so I'm really grateful I now can be back at my machine if I don't overdo it. I'm grateful I took it in for a tuneup before I got sick.

I'm grateful for the automatic threader on my machine, every time I use it.

I'm grateful for all the tools we have to make quilting easier for us than it was for quilters long ago. Can you imagine cutting everything out with scissors and not having any choice but to piece everything by hand? It works for some people and some projects, but only when I choose. I can use modern technology if I wish.

I'm grateful for the abundance of fabric I can choose from to make colorful scrap quilts. Overflowing sometimes and almost never ending.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to have had four books published and that people actually want to buy the books I write and make the quilts I design! And even though I'm a Sentimental Quilter, I won't get too sentimental about it here . . .

I'm grateful that quilters are the nicest people you'll ever meet, much nicer than say, fiction book or movie critics, LOL. Also, some politicians and cable news anchors . . . . I definitely chose the right business to go into.

Look, they're all so nice - listening, enthralled, hanging on my every word. Except for that one lady - I suppose she was probably looking for her camera . . .

As we celebrate this season of gratitude, what are you grateful for in your life? Look around you, there's so much. Me? Today? Kids and puppies, as always. Even puppies with bad hair days.

I Always Meet the Nicest Quilters

I spent the last several days in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where I met the nicest quilters!

First, I taught  a workshop "featuring" the little Bear's Paw quilt from Prairie Children & Their Quilts in the morning and then gave a presentation later in the evening. I was almost late for the class because it was so cold when I stepped out of the hotel and discovered we needed a little extra time to defrost all of the ice on the car. Brrr!

Here's a happy quilter

I always meet the nicest quilters!

My workshops are always fun because the projects are small enough so that the ladies usually get to finish the top and don't have to go home with another UFO. While they're sewing, I  try to supplement the class with a little history lesson and a trunk show of the other quilts from the book. A nice, cozy little sewing circle.

Each of the quilts turned out differently and I love all of the unique variations of this simple pattern. Perfect for a cold Fall morning!

Someone had been reading my blog and needed to show me HER little Twirling Pinwheels quilt, wouldn't you know it? See, I told you, they're everywhere. Lovely black borders too!

After the workshop some of us went out to lunch and then made a quick stop at a local quilt shop - Lulijune's. Such a sweet little shop, chock full of just the type of fabrics and quilts I love!

Meet LeAnn, who owns the shop. I had a hard time taking my eyes off some of the quilts on the wall!

Thanks for the shop tour, LeAnn!

I told you, I always meet the nicest quilters . . . and then go home with some wonderful memories.

Although the weather on the drive home was cold and foggy in places, and the landscape a little stark, I think the Midwest is still beautiful in November.

While the Cat's Away

I had a million things to do last weekend. My husband took my daughter out of town to visit a college and I was looking forward to being alone - I promised myself I would clean up and organize some of my stuff.  I've gotten way behind on clutter control, not being able to do much for so long. Just sitting looking at all of the paper, books, magazines, mail, etc. drives me crazy. I get to some of it and then I turn around and there's more! No, sorry, I'm not going to show you my real mess. Let's just say that my mother may be turning over in her grave about now . . . Although I do like to think that she'd understand what I've been through in the past few months and would give me a pass. If she were alive, she'd undoubtedly step in and help.

Stuff all over, everywhere

Papers and magazines piled up, needing to be filed

What's the best way to avoid doing work you really don't want to do? Find something inspiring to distract you, of course. Cheryl from my yahoo group made a Pinwheel quilt that was generating quite a lot of attention and talk. As you can see, her quilt is lovely and everyone drooled over it and we were all curious as to how she made it. Some said the pattern is in the Square Dance book by Martha Thompson, others had seen it at quilt shows or shops made with a special "Twister" tool.

Well, I couldn't get Cheryl's pretty quilt out of my head for days and all the talk about the Square Dance or "Twister" quilt intrigued and inspired me even more. I went to a quilt show at the Chicago Botanic Garden last Friday and what do you know? There was a small "Twister" quilt there too. Now it seems like they're everywhere I look. This happened to me with hexagons last year - I couldn't stop seeing them everywhere until I made one with hexagons myself.

 Fay Stickler made this "Twirling Pinwheels" quilt. Black seems to be a popular option for the setting and borders.

I knew I was going to be very busy in the next few weeks - out of town for a lecture, work to do on patterns and then the holidays - and I wouldn't have time for it then. It really was now or never. I had no time to run around and look for the ruler so I made my own template and then figured out how to make the quilt myself.

Sew 5" x 5" squares together and add a border.

Homemade "ruler" - 4" x 4" cut from template plastic.  Place at seams where they intersect and cut around the square template. Twist the pinwheels and sew together in rows, matching the colors of the spokes. Almost like a puzzle.

You guessed it, I never did get around to cleaning or organizing - I took advantage of my "alone" time that weekend and on the spur of the moment - a sort of "whirlwind spree" if you will - made a quilt just for myself.

I finished putting the top together on Sunday. I still have to decide what to do about the borders, but I'm pretty sure I'm going with black too.

I really had a lot of fun making my Pinwheel/Square Dance/Twister quilt - sewing all the squares together first and then cutting them apart to get the pinwheels. When I showed my husband how I made it he said "You did what??" and laughed that I would make a quilt and then cut it apart to make another one.  A big thanks to Cheryl for her inspiration! There's always next week for cleaning and organizing. . .  .

Blown in by the Autumn Winds

My yahoo group SmallQuiltTalk  just finished a Maple Leaf block exchange. I had signed up to participate but then got sick and felt terrible when I had to drop out. Imagine my surprise when everyone in the exchange made extra blocks and sent them to me! You know how much I love Fall and all of its colors.

Now I have my very own blocks to make my own special Maple Leaf quilt. Some were signed with the makers' names on the back, in the seams. Someone in the group suggested putting the names of the block makers on the back of the quilt and I think that's a great idea so I will never forget. The group is going to do a Signature Swap with some small blocks in January. We'll have to see if I can join in this time.

Aren't they beautiful? I hear there are more on the way and I can't wait. Thank you all so much for thinking of me!

This wonderful magazine with lots and lots of great scrappy quilts and Kathie's Tumbler quilt on the cover also arrived in the mail last week. There was a little card inside with a note that was signed "Your friend" but no signature. Hey! This is driving me crazy!

I guess the sender wishes to remain anonynous but I sure would like to know who it was so I can thank her properly! C'mon, Anonymous,  'fess up . . .

If you like scrappy quilts, you all "need" this magazine -

Quilt Show at the Garden

Yesterday, I stopped by the Fine Art of Fiber Quilt Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden, sponsored by Illinois Quilters, Inc., North Suburban NeedleArts Guild and Weavers Guild of the North Shore. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, if a bit on the chilly side. But I didn't mind because it was a chance for me to get back to the Chicago Botanic Garden and walk around - the first time I was able to do that since my surgery. AND see some unique quilts while I was at it.

With a few exceptions, most of the quilts on display were contemporary designs and it's always fun to see what "the other side" is creating, LOL.

Made by Iva Freeman

Made by Faye Stickler

Made by Diana Burrows

I told you it was chilly. There was a bit of a frost overnight, which made everything glisten in the sun.

The bottom of the waterfall.

Still some beautiful fall colors.

Outside the English Garden

It was much warmer inside the greenhouses!

Reminded me of my floor after I've been sewing . . .

I was sort of  "pooped" afterwards and so, back at home, we took a nice long nap  . . .

Feeling a Little Patriotic About Quilts

I'm feeling patriotic, or at least I was yesterday when I took advantage of my right to vote. Someone commented on the blog about the small part of my Lincoln's Platform quilt I showed and asked to see the whole quilt. It's one of my favorite quilts from Remembering Adelia.

Lincoln's political platform during the 1860 presidential election (and also his bid for re-election in 1864) called for an end to slavery and a reuniting of the country that was torn apart at the time. 

Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War in the United States. Adelia's diary portrays some of the thoughts that were going through women's minds at that time and I tried to include some quilts in the book that may have been popular around the time of the war. I wrote my next book, The Civil War Sewing Circle, with that in the back of my mind and it was fun to immerse myself in some of the research about women and the impact that their quilting had on the war. I've been influenced by Lincoln's legacy  in making a few of my little quilts before and though I am not a quilt historian, it's always fascinating to find out more about the connection between quilt pattern names and the history behind them.

From the Library of Congress

Most of you know that there has been an abundance of stories written about quilting and the Civil War, and for years we loved to imagine women frantically sewing quilts with secrets hidden within, helping slaves escape. Truth is, we  now know that these stories are considered myths that have been for the most part disputed by historians.

From the Library of Congress

   

For instance, according to myths, the Underground Railroad or Jacob's Ladder quilt pattern, with its light and dark contrasting squares set in an ascending formation, was said to point slaves to a safe path to freedom.

From my book  American Doll Quilts

The Log Cabin quilt has its own mystique surrounding it. According to stories, safe houses for escaping slaves were supposedly those that displayed a Log Cabin quilt with a black center and when these quilts were hung in a window or on a clothesline, slaves could be assured of a hiding place on their journey. Quilt historians say that the first documented Log Cabin quilt was dated after the Civil War and could not have been used during the time of the conflict and was probably named as a tribute to President Lincoln's boyhood home (a log cabin) or as a symbol of the Union's loyalty to him.  

From Prairie Children & Their Quilts

Thus, while our imaginations love these stories of quilts and slaves, historians tell us that there is simply no evidence that quilts played a role in helping slaves escape to freedom. We now know that the stories are probably fiction and many of the blocks were renamed later, after the war. In actuality, instead of sewing codes into cloth, thousands of women were sewing frantically in their sewing circles to make bedding and clothing for the many soldiers who desperately needed these items.

  From American Doll Quilts

Whatever history tells us,  and whatever disappointment we might feel at finding out the truth about the actual role that quilts played, it shouldn't discourage us from making quilts like these with names associated with the war as a tribute to Lincoln, the war, or the men and women who played such an important role in this stage of American history.